Page 116 of Bought and Broken

I grip his shirt and allow myself to cry. It feels good to let it out, but it’s also confusing. Because Tate is the reason all these emotions are here, yet he’s the one who makes me feel better. How can that be fair? How is the person who causes me the most pain the same person who makes me feel the best?

This is not how I expected our reunion to be. I thought I was prepared. I thought I was ready to face him. That I would be strong and confident when I talked to him. Hell, I was waiting for him to find me so we could figure this out. I never expected to be so damn weak.

“I will make it up to you. I swear, Devon, I will do whatever it takes. I can’t be without you. I need you.”

My eyes pinch tighter and more tears fall. I’ve always known this, but hearing it… god, hearing it is everything.

“When I told you I wanted to be better for you, I meant that,” he says, pulling back and using his thumbs to wipe the tears from my cheeks. “Everything I said to you was the truth.”

“Then why?” I say in such a small voice.

“I don’t have an answer that makes sense. I think I was so afraid of losing you that I let myself believe you’d hurt me because it’s what everyone else did. Though it wasn’t something you would do, it’s something that would happen to me. It was easier to believe that than to think I’d actually have something as good as you in my life.”

“Why is it different now?”

“It’s been different, Devon. At the auction, I was angry. Yes, I bought you to get revenge, I can’t deny that. It was wrong, I know. But all it took was that weekend for me to remember why I loved you so much. Then I realized I’ve loved you the whole time—and that made me angrier. I didn’t know how to work through it, so I kept pushing forward. I’m hard to love, Devon. I know that, but—”

I put my finger over his lips to stop him from talking. “Loving you has been the easiest thing I’ve ever done, Tate. That’s why this hurt so much.”

He sighs, shaking his head. I pull my hand away.

“I need to show you something,” he says.

“Okay,” I say carefully.

He links our fingers together and leads me out of the room. I follow without question.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Tatum

“I can’t believe you rented a car,” she says.

“When I saw you didn’t have one, I thought it was a good idea.”

I stop at the red light and glance at her when I feel her gaze on me.

“How long have you been watching me?” she asks carefully.

“Do you really want to know that?”

She chews on the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know…”

The light turns green, and I step on the gas. She doesn’t want to know how long I’ve been watching her. It’ll creep her out.

I blindly reach for her hand and bring it to my lips to kiss.

I can’t believe she’s here. She’s coming with me without argument. She isn’t screaming at me. She’s calm, actually. This may work in my favor.

When I first saw her, she was with that guy, and I nearly lost my mind. Until I heard him talking about how he likes taking it up the ass. Though I still didn’t like the fact she was spending time with anyone who wasn’t me, I wasn’t worried about him trying to get into her pants. At least I wouldn’t have to kill him. They spent a lot of time together, and I found myself happy that she had friends out here.

She wasn’t alone like me.

But that’s the difference between Devon and me. When she hits rock bottom, she can pick herself up all by herself.

I need help. I need her help. I just… need her.

“You aren’t taking me to the airport, are you?”

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